Microsoft's New Money Gun: Xbox 720

According to leading technology website The Verge, Microsoft (MSFT) will launch the Xbox 720 with several new innovations, including next generation Kinect and Kinect Glasses, and a more accessible and targeted design for those who play casual games. The Xbox 720 is going to be a very profitable product that will increase Microsoft's revenues in the long-term.

MS chose a different path in that they license a set of standards to other companies to develop their own 720 compatible units?

It would certainly take much of the pressure off MS in regards to them being the sole purveyor of the system and would create market competition between other mfg's.

the 3DO company (mainly Panasonic) licensed the rights to others to make 3DO units and even though the platform didnt do as well as they thought, the idea was still pretty sound.

With all the talk of a "steam" box laying the groundwork for other PC companies to make steam compatible units, it makes sense for there to be more wide distribution of general purpose machines than single units.

Like how you go to a store to buy a PC and you can choose from several different ones but they all have the same basic features. What sets each one from the next would be the amount of ram or hdd or cpu/gpu specs.

Where MS and the 720 are concerned they could make a set of standards and then companies can build from there. Maybe having varying sizes of hdd and mfg specific apps/features but in the end, all would be able to play the same 720 games and access the same live services.

Sony is a hardware company so the likeliness of THEM licensing their hardware tech is not as beneficial to them as it would be to MS. MS would make more off the $$ fees and not have to deal with the hardware overhead they currently deal with.

I think the next Xbox will be more of the same, but vastly improved. Such as better similar, but better OS, similar but better Kinect, similar but better XBL, same but more first party exclusives, more integration with tablets and cell phones, and all backed by superior hardware.

I think the next xbox will be different but the same, like similar but dissimilar. kinda like better but also not better. or almost the same but not the same. maybe mostly alike but not as alike as mostly would portray. in a way equivalent but equivocal. very indistingushable but distinguished.

A lot of people dont really understand this the Xbox division isnt Microsoft's money gun.

Microsoft's main business is their Windows and Office business. The Xbox Division is really nothing in comparison.

Its my opinion that there will be a drastic slowdown in Microsoft's business in the coming years and this really isnt related to their Xbox. Its mostly their cash cow, Windows and Office that are going to be tanking.

The signs are already there, there is a slow down in the sales of PC hardware. Uptake of Windows 8 is much slower than expected and this really isnt because Windows 8 has a learning curve, far from it.

The problem is the market conditions have changed since the times of Windows Xp or Windows 7. People dont want to be buying PCs at a regular interval any more, this is because 2-3 year old PC can already do what current software requires them to do. Hence the need for upgrading isnt there. People instead prefer Androids and Apple devices.

Ultimately this will hit Microsoft and not only in their Windows and Office sales but also their enterprise sales will be hit.

Xbox on its own will not be able to carry the whale named Microsoft. Xbox division is just too small.

Gloomy times are ahead for Microsoft, people will be surprised how quickly the slow down can hit them.

From the article: "This trend suggests Xbox 720 sales will be higher than Playstation 4 sales. Moreover, the Xbox 720 is manufactured by an American company. On the other hand, the Playstation 4 is manufactured by a Japanese company. Most Americans prefer buying American made products at the moment, especially with the fiscal cliff looming."

I don't see how relevant that is given the history of gaming in America. From the Atari 2600 all the way to the Wii, Americans have supported both domestic and foreign gaming. How well has a RPG franchise like Mass Effect done in Japan? Now flip that around and ask how many Americans bought games from the Final Fantasy series? How about America who bought games from the Gran Turismo series? Now ask yourself how many Japanese gamers bought Forza.

Current hardware sales in Japan show PS3 sales in Japan at 30X that of Xbox 360 sales. The PS3 is not being outsold in America by 30-1. It's probably closer to 2-1 or less. Even the Wii is outselling the Xbox 360 right now by 8-1.

Even when Microsoft tried to capture the Japanese audience early on with exclusives like Blue Dragon and Lost Oddyssey they snubbed their noses at it. The good thing is they still got the Japanese developer support which is far more important. Especially since the region of Japan pales (sales) in comparison to Europe and North America.

I've tried many Japanese influenced games like Catherine and Disgaea. There are certainly some unique and great games from there.

lulz! Loved how my comment got flagged for trolling, I was simply implying he doesn't keep up with MS news since there are quite a few NEW IPs being made for the 720. So sick of the redundant HALOGEARSFABLEFORZA response from people (mostly sony fanboys), read up like you do to the company you're loyal to! lol

I hate that popularity of search graph. That could just mean that many 360 users are more interested and looking to the next gen than PS3 users that may not be expecting a new console as much next year.

my opinon for the new consoles from sony and ms, if either of them are heavy on the motion controls(ps move/kinect) thats the system im going to avoid, i want a controller and if both go heavy on the motion controls then i would jump to the wii u as at least it has a pro controller

isnt steambox more for the gamers who dont have a gaming rig, or is valve leaving all pc development and only developing for steambox?¿ im only asking cause if you have a gaming pc with steam buying steambox would make no sense. to each his own i guess..kryptos/orbis/wiiU(only if zelda/metroid and eternal darkness come out for it) will only get steambox if half life3 is exclusive to it.

i dont see how this affects anything really. ms is catering to all casual and hardcore. if youve been following news on next gen this old news. ms wants to be in every home be it the person who plays once in awhile but watches alot of movies and other programing or the hardcore like most of us who just wants to game. its a win win imo...

Lol showing the popularity of the Xbox 720 against the PS4 in the UNITED STATES. Lol please guys if you have 5 minutes of your time go try the same thing and do it for worldwide. GG Xbox. Google doesn't predict who the leader in console sales will be. What a terribly researched and written article.

i don't care what the xbox720 is going to be like because i really dislike the games microsoft offers.plus the severe lack of top games. my only question here is why the PS4 is not been treated the same way by this (dodgy) media ?? it only gets negative news/rumors all the f time when in fact we all know its going to be the best HD console just like the PS3 is right now!!!!

This website's users makes me hate playstation fans and by extension, playstation. This coming from someone who owns a ps2, ps3 and Sony phone. Why are you people so obnoxious? Okay you love everything SONY, would it kill you to let those that prefer other consoles enjoy some good news without resorting to trolling? I mean come on.

Idiotic article by an uninformed popularity seeker. PS3 is actually second among console sales. People forgot quickly how MS released a couple million defective xboxes into the market. I'm a huge MS and Sony fan...but something odd is going on here with these one sided rumours. Gamers who have been playing since the 80s know quality...we've seen 3DO, SNES, Jaguar ATARI CD 32..dreamcast ps1-3...xbox and from all these can deduce that Sonys strategy is on games...not pointless tacked on features.

The Kayle...did u subtract 5million defective xboxes off its 71 million global sales? Sony leads europe and asia...American markets support MS at their own detriment. Sony on 70million without re-issue of consoles...go figure....anyway...Sony gave me excellent service. I already saved the cash for both Sony and MS new platforms....that's the best study.